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March was a whirlwind month! I traveled to Raleigh for the North Carolina Reading Association Conference.
This photo is from a book signing session. Starting at the top left is John Claude Bemis, author of THE WOODEN PRINCE, Kathleen Burkinshaw, author of THE LAST CHERRY BLOSSOM, Robert Beatty, author of SERAFINA AND THE BLACK CLOAK, and Joyce Moyer Hostetter, author of AIM. At bottom left is Gary Schmidt, author of ORBITING JUPITER, Kerry O'Malley Cerra, author of JUST A DROP OF WATER, and then there's me with my book, RUBY LEE & ME.
The following week, I presented with Augusta Scattergood to the Friends of the Library in Tampa.
Our topic was Family, Friends, and Foes--Who is that Character, Anyhow!
I love speaking at conferences, festivals, and book clubs. It's a privilege to share my work.
On March 6th, I met fellow Middle Grade authors, Kerry O'Malley Cerra, Augusta Scattergood, and Taryn Souders at the University Of South Florida. Our mission was to present to 600 students from Title I schools as part of the CLiCK Conference.
We had a HUGE crowd.
We ran concurrent sessions and each author presented twice to give students a chance to hear multiple presentations and keep the crowd size manageable.
We appreciated signing books for classroom libraries!
And here we are at the end of the day. Tired, but still standing! Thanks to everyone involved for a wonderful conference…
This past August, I participated on a middle grade panel at the Mississippi Book Festival. We were moderated by Deborah Wiles, and the other authors who took part were: John Claude Bemis, Augusta Scattergood, Esta Spalding, John David Anderson, myself, and Kathi Appelt.
I posted about this panel back in August, but now the folks at The Mississippi Book Festival have put a video of it online. You can hear each of us read from our books and answer questions by clicking on Middle School Book Panel:
Lots of cool things have been happening to me! I attended the American Libraries Association Conference for the first time ever.
This is a photo of me signing with my friend and fellow Scholastic author, Augusta Scattergood. Several of our Florida SCBWI colleagues gathered to show their support, or maybe just to ham it up!
And I had to snap a photo of my new book beside Augusta's new book!
And this is a stack of our books ready for signing!
In other cool news, I toured the TRIO exhibit at ALA. I was especially interested because RUBY LEE & ME will be part of TRIO in 2017. That means my book will be given to a visual artist and a songwriter. Using RUBY LEE & ME as inspiration, the visual artist will produce a work of art, and the songwriter will pen a song, thus completing the TRIO. The exhibit will debut at the Southern Independent Booksellers' Conference in Savannah.You can learn more by clicking on TRIO.
And finally, I had the opportunity to meet a Louisiana family whose son has been assigned RUBY LEE & ME for summer reading. Here we are at Inkwood Books:
That's all the news that's fit to print. Happy Fourth of July and Happy Summer Reading!
Forevermore when I think of the Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival, I will remember eating my way through Mississippi!
When Augusta and I first landed, she took me to Primo's for vegetable plates:
And the last place she took me served roasted pig:
But it wasn't all good eating. Our presentation, "Putting the Personal in History," was well attended. This picture is from our book signing afterward:
Augusta and I were road tripping it - Thelma and Louise, minus Brad Pitt. Forget what you've heard about blonds having more fun. It's got nothing to do with hair color - it's all about the south!
Next week I'm headed to the University of Southern Mississippi with Augusta Scattergood. We're going to co-lead a workshop called, Putting the Personal in History. Augusta and I first presented this material at an SCBWI event in Valrico, Florida. This picture is from Valrico.
And to make our trip even more enjoyable, Augusta and I have been invited to the Ezra Jack Keats Award Celebration and dinner.
Look out, Mississippi...here we come!
A photo with Augusta Scattergood following our presentation, Putting the Personal in History, at the Bloomingdale Public Library in Valrico, Florida.
Here's the official description:
SCBWI FLORIDA
TAMPA BAY AREA WRITERS
PUTTING THE PERSONAL INTO HISTORY
Presenters:
Augusta Scattergood and
Shannon Hitchcock
Saturday, November 1, 2014
2:00-4:00 p.m.
Bloomingdale Public Library
1906 Bloomingdale Ave.
Valrico, FL 33596-6204
In this session, Augusta Scattergood and Shannon Hitchcock will reveal how they used events that were up close and personal to write their Crystal Kite Award-winning novels GLORY BE and THE BALLAD OF JESSIE PEARL, as well as their current works-in-progress. Augusta and Shannon will interview each other to reveal how writing what you love, finding the hook, and careful research can benefit any manuscript, not just historical fiction. I like to think of this session as dueling banjos, but with books.
Augusta and Shannon will also dialog about how to find your story's heart. And will share the best writing advice they ever received, as an extra added treat. Plus there will be some fantastic door prizes, including a book bag full of brand new books!
Bring your writing notebooks, pens, and ideas for your own stories and we'll brainstorm together in this interactive session.
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Augusta Scattergood's next book, THE WAY TO STAY IN DESTINY, will be released by Scholastic in January 2015. Learn more about Augusta at her website. Shannon Hitchcock's next book is entitled CAROLINA GIRLS and will also be released by Scholastic. Learn more about Shannon at her website.
On November 22nd, I will be on an authors' panel with Augusta Scattergood, Nancy Cavanaugh, and Rob Sanders. Hope you can join us!
You’re invited
to
The Children’s Authors Panel
at
Discovery Night
Barnes & Noble
213 North Dale
Mabry
Tampa, Florida
Friday, November 22
7:00-9:00 p.m.
Featuring:
Augusta Scattergood
GLORY BE
Shannon Hitchcock
THE BALLAD OF JESSIE PEARL
Nancy Cavanaugh
THIS JOURNAL BELONGS TO RATCHET
Rob Sanders
COWBOY CHRISTMAS
s
Hear from the authors s
s
Learn about writing for children s
s
Get answers to your questions s
s
And get your hands on some great books s
I decided to overhaul my website to celebrate the release of my debut novel, THE BALLAD OF JESSIE PEARL. I spent lots of time looking at the websites of debut authors and the three that influenced me the most were the websites of Barbara Elizabeth Walsh, Caroline Starr Rose, and Augusta Scattergood. I decided to combine the things I love most from each of these sites and worked with Linda Kaufman of Kaufman Web Consulting to design my own.
What I like best about Barbara Elizabeth Walsh's website is the vivid use of color. Linda and I played around with a red much like that used in The Poppy Lady, but ultimately decided green suited the feel of my website better.
What I love about Caroline Starr Rose's website is a page called "For Teachers." She has a free May B. study guide available on her site. Since my book is also historical fiction, I thought this was a stellar marketing tool. I worked with curriculum designer, Debbie Gonzales and she crafted a curriculum guide for THE BALLAD OF JESSIE PEARL that is linked to the Common Core State Standards. You can view my guide here.
From Augusta Scattergood I borrowed the idea of a page called "For The Press." I like the idea of having a book cover and author picture easily accessible for bloggers, bookstore owners, and others who want to help promote our books.
I also took a look at more established author websites to make sure Linda and I have a plan to easily adapt my site when I have other books to promote. By reducing the size of the book cover on the home page, we can easily add more books, and there's room inside the curtain to add several more book trailers.
Do you have a favorite author website? Leave a link in the comments so I can take a look at it. And I hope you'll check out my new site
This picture is of Augusta Scattergood at the launch party for GLORY BE at Inkwood Books.
I am feeling a bit like a rock star because Augusta has posted an interview with me on her blog. She thinks THE BALLAD OF JESSIE PEARL would make a good selection for a mother/daughter book club. One of the questions she asked is what kind of food should be served at such a gathering.
 In honor of Augusta's interview, I'm going to post my granny's recipe for Chocolate Pound Cake!
Ingredients:
2 sticks butter (room temperature), 1/2 cup Crisco, 3 cups sugar, 5 eggs, 3 cups cake flour, 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 cup cocoa, 1 cup milk, 1 tablespoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 325. Cream together butter and Crisco. Add sugar gradually until well blended. (I use a hand mixer). Add eggs, one at a time until blended. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa. Add to the batter, alternating with milk. Stir in vanilla. Grease and flour bundt pan and pour in the batter. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes in pan before flipping onto a cake plate.
Chocolate Frosting
1 box powdered sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup Crisco, 1 tsp. vanilla, water (less than 1/4 cup)
Stir together sugar and cocoa. Put in Crisco. Beat it with a little water and vanilla until desired consistency.
I would be honored to send signed bookmarks and do a free SKYPE visit with any book club that reads THE BALLAD OF JESSIE PEARL!
 I was reading an article by Robin Roberts in Guideposts magazine called, "My Mom, My Inspiration." In the article, Robin talks about giving a commencement speech she thought had gone quite well. When her mom didn't offer compliments, Robin asked what was wrong. Here's what she said:
You forgot to mention all the people who have helped you. We never do it just on our own. There are all those people behind us, our teachers, coaches, pastors, mentors.
That gave me pause because so many people have helped me along my writing journey. So many people over so many years that it would be nearly impossible to name them all.
I learned how to write by taking correspondence courses through the Institute for Children's Literature. After graduating from ICL, I continued to make progress due to The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and to Highlights Foundation Workshops. I owe special thanks to former NJ Regional Advisor, Kathy Temean, to Florida Regional Advisor, Linda Bernfield, and to editor Carolyn Yoder.
Without a doubt, the person who has helped me the most is fellow author Cynthia Chapman Willis. When I first decided to try writing a novel, Cindy read the novel chapter-by-chapter and gently pointed out my beginner's mistakes.
When I finally had a first draft, teacher and mentor Joyce Sweeney helped me refine it.
Over the years, I've belonged to three critique groups. Each member of those groups strengthened my writing and provided needed encouragement. Jeannine Norris became more than a critique group leader...she turned into a dear friend.
Many authors further along in the process have shared their knowledge with me. Richard Peck critiqued the first chapter of my novel at an SCBWI conference. He then generously gave me his address and asked to read the completed manuscript. Though he didn't think it was quite ready for publication, he offered advice and encouragement. So I kept revising it. Augusta Scattergood, Barbara Krasner and Joyce Moyer Hostetter have all shared marketing tips with me.
If not for my husband's financial support, this journey would have been nearly impossible. And my son has shown patience and humor when I'm lost in a story.
After my agent resigned, her partner Deborah Warren stepped up to represent me.
But in the end, I owe the biggest debt of gratitude to Stephen Roxburgh. I still remember what he said to me. "This novel really is delicious and exactly the kind of thing I'm looking to publish." To which I now respond, Hallelujah!
 Augusta is one of my writer friends living here in the Tampa Bay Area. I was delighted to attend her book launch party at Inkwood Books earlier this month, and to hear her interviewed on NPR. Recently, I had the chance to chat with Augusta about her debut novel, GLORY BE, which was edited by Andrea Pinkney and published by Scholastic. GLORY BE takes place in 1964 during Freedom Summer. What was your initial inspiration for this story?
I actually started writing the book in 2001, after hearing Ruby Bridges speak at Kent Place School in Summit, NJ, where I worked for ten years. Soon after that, I joined a critique group and mostly wrote book reviews and personal essays. Actually GLORY BE started life as “Junk Poker,” an essay/ short story about a game my sister and I played as children. That remained the working title of the novel for quite a while, through several premature submissions. Till I realized neither junk nor poker was a particularly appropriate title for a middle-grade novel. But I need to go back a bit to tell you that this story really started in 1964 when I worked for my state’s Library Commission as a summer college intern. Sunflower County, Mississippi (And no, I didn’t make up that county’s name) was in the heart of the Mississippi Delta. It was Freedom Summer, 1964. A lot was going on, to say the very least on that subject. History unfolded while I shelved books and ran story hours. As a library intern, I worked with an amazing director. She stood up to a very vocal library trustee who wanted us to close down the library, or at least remove all the chairs, rather than allow it to be integrated. By the end of that summer, Story Hour had turned into a remedial reading class attended by children who’d never been inside a library. That same summer, I briefly met a young, white civil rights worker from Ohio. In town to register voters and teach in the new Freedom School, she spent her off hours hanging out in the library. It’s not a reach to say I learned a lot that college summer. And now, both my library director and that civil rights worker have ended up in my book. I read a Willa Cather quote on your blog that said: “Let your fiction grow from the land beneath your feet.” Tell us how growing up in the Mississippi Delta influences your writing.
I see setting as almost another character in my writing. GLORY BE takes place during two short weeks in July. I always loved summers growing up. As I wrote this novel, I pictured mimosa blossoms from the tree outside my childhood home, and I heard crickets — that almost deafening sound that happened every early evening. When Glory and her friends gather to play kick-the-can or baseball, the pecan tree that shaded my backyard is home base. Another quote I love is from Eudora Welty, as reported in One Writer’s Beginnings. She shared this advice from a literary critic: “Always be sure you get your moon in the right part of the sky.” I tried very hard to get the details of the Mississippi Delta right. Give us a brief plot synopsis for your novel.
All Gloriana June Hemphill wants this summer is for her pool to stay open and her big sister to stay her best friend. But things are beginning to change in Hanging Moss, Mississippi, whether she likes it or not. The town is divided by the closing of the community pool and the civil rights workers who’ve come to town. Her sister has a boyfriend, the new football hero who’s mysteriously turned up in town. Glory begins to make sense of these changes when she befriends the daughter of one of these “outside agitators.” Her maid, Emma, also helps her understand what’s changing in her life, and more importantly, why things shouldn’t stay the same. GLORY BE is historical fiction. What research tips do you have for other authors?
Having spent most of my career as a librarian, the research part was fun. I think when writing for kids about such an important time in history, writers need to make sure young readers understand what it was like living in another century, in a different place or in someone else’s shoes. Quite honestly, even though I was there during this crucial time in our history, as a child I was shielded from a lot of what was happening in the South. So I’ve always been interested in learning more about Freedom Summer. For this book, I tried to read oral histories and also to interview my contemporaries about the actual events. Then I had fun remembering early 1960s music, the hairstyles, the food. So many debut authors complain about the lack of marketing support for their novels. That has certainly not been your experience. Share with us the wonderful journey you’ve been on pre-publication.
A whirlwind. That’s about the only way I can describe it! My editor loved the book from the very start. We worked together for several months, then she started sharing it with everybody at Scholastic. For me, that’s when the excitement truly began. Along with four other debut novelists, I was invited to speak at the spring sales meeting. Having been a school librarian for so long, I went prepared. I took my Junk Poker/ Buster Brown shoebox filled with treasures, and did a Show and Tell. After that, I was asked to read from the book for an audio recording Scholastic made to share with potential bookstore purchasers, then a video recording for their Librarians Preview. I could go on and on. I have no complaints! I adore Scholastic! What has been the most exciting thing that has happened to you in the past year?
Wow. So many things. Re-connecting with old friends (mostly via my blog and Facebook) who have their own memories of the summer of 1964. Hearing grown-up readers tell me they want to share the book with their children and grandchildren and students to help them understand Freedom Summer. Lunch with my editor and tea with my agent when I returned to New Jersey for the summer. All the amazing events at Scholastic. I pinch myself on an almost daily basis. Even before the book is officially in print! What are you working on now?
Aha. The hard part! I’m working on a second middle-grade novel, set in Florida, started at a Highlights Founders Workshop with Carolyn Coman at least three years ago. I try not to think about how long it takes me to write, from idea to fruition. I’m working hard to speed up that process. GLORY BE took almost ten years from the time I put pen to paper until the book hit the stores. This “new” novel was critiqued by an amazing agent, Linda Pratt, at an SCBWI regional event. That’s how we met and totally connected, but she didn’t take me on until I revised and submitted GLORY BE a year later. I have another tiny kernel of a potential master plan for something new, also middle-grade, set in the South of course. Always be prepared. Just in case.
 One of the nicest parts of Christmas is having leisure time to read to my heart's content. It seems the world slows down and I spend most of my time with family, food, and books. What could be better than that? My reading list for the holidays includes: 1. GLORY BE by Augusta Scattergood - Augusta has written my favorite kind of book, historical fiction with a southern setting. GLORY BE takes place during Freedom Summer in 1964. Look for an upcoming interview with Augusta on my blog. 2. THE SCORPIO RACES - Maggie Stiefvater creates characters I care about and writes in a lovely lyrical way. THE SCORPIO RACES is getting lots of good buzz and I can't wait to see what all the hoopla is about! 3. BIRD IN A BOX by Andrea Davis Pinkney - Another historical fiction book that I'm looking forward to delving into. I enjoy reading authors with an African-American voice. Their writing is distinctive and usually has a poetic feel to it. When I read their work, I always hear the voice of Mrs. Pauline Porter, who taught me to read. 4. DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE by Laini Taylor - This novel was named one of Amazon's Top Ten Books of 2011. Universal Studios recently bought the rights to make it into a movie. My critique partner Cynthia Chapman Willis says it's a "must read." That is high praise indeed. Happy Holiday to one and all! May you be surrounded by bright lights, good food, people who love you, and a stack of great books!
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